Northwest Independence

Its a tradition when the 4th comes around for me to stay put and not become a statistic in the mad rush of campers, pickups, and other cars heading somewhere for the holiday. This year I broke that tradition and against better judgement made the journey with Sherry and friends to Pacific city on the central coast of Oregon. For a couple days a tent sitting 1/4 mile from the beach was home. Only a 15 minute drive away stood the tallest waterfall on the Oregon coast with water cascading 319 ft. down. Short hike to this spot, but still incredible.

A few miles down the beach, on the opposite side of a 200 ft. tall mound of sand was Pacific City. Here cars are allowed to drive on the beach, so when the sun had many people remained parked on the beach in anticipation of the fireworks show. Fire pits dotted the landscape with personal, yet illegal, fireworks exploding from each group.Kind of woild how a state that has laws against fireworks like this tends to just turn away on the weekend of the 4th.